HEALTH Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson says more than 3,000 persons were treated by public health institutions for respiratory issues during the recent fire at the Riverton City dump in Kingston.

Dr Ferguson, who was answering questions from Opposition MP Edmund Bartlett, said that the total he has is 3,314. However, he said that based on the format in which they were compiled he could not say how many were directly related to the Riverton fire.

Ferguson also explained that the total figure included 1,209 children, who were treated at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

Asked by Bartlett how many of the total were “first-timers”, or persons who had consistently suffered from respiratory problems, Ferguson said he did not have those figures.

And when asked whether the entire KMA was exposed to high-risk chemicals, like Benzene, during the blaze, the minister said that he would not attempt a response as he would have to await information from his technical team.

Earlier in Question Time, Dr Ferguson, who was responding to questions tabled by Opposition spokesman on local government, Desmond McKenzie, said that the data collected represented total figures for respiratory and allergic conditions seen at the Accident and Emergency Department of public hospitals and primary health care centres.

He said that comparisons were done to assess the change in the number of persons seen at the Spanish Town Hospital and the Bustamante Hospital for Children, with respiratory conditions, as an increase may be used to indicate the effects of the fire, assuming that the Riverton fire was the only factor responsible for the increase in numbers.

He said that at the Spanish Town Hospital for the weeks ending March 14 and March 21, 2015, showed a 7.6 per cent and 8.1 per cent increase, respectively, in the number of persons treated for respiratory conditions, over the week ending March 7.

The Bustamante Hospital, for week ending March 14, showed a 12.7 per cent increase in the number of persons presenting with respiratory conditions, when compared to the same period in 2014.

He said that all major pharmacies at public health centres and hospitals had adequate supplies of medication to assist all persons who sought treatment.

Available drugs included ventolin inhaler and nebulisation solution; Atrovent nebulisation solution and inhaler; Fluticasone inhaler, oral prednisone and salmetoral/fluticasone combination.

Dr Ferguson, meanwhile, contended that the immediate effects experienced by residents in the environs of the Riverton City dump were successfully treated. However, the long-term effects are not known and would require in-depth research to definitively document the sequelae (a pathological condition resulting from a prior disease he said.